Last Friday

Finished A Discovery of Witches. Quite good. So happy the second book in the trilogy comes out on the 10th, because I am going to buy and read and enjoy that. Yay! Started The Night Circus, though the order was a bit....out of order, so I have to resolve that. My MP3 player will play file 10 after file 1, if file 2 isn't labeled 02. Which is tricky when you are playing chapters. Also the screen went dark on my MP3 player, so I can't see what exactly is playing, so I can't skip around so easily.

Today was a work day filled with taping screens, sorting shirts, unpacking boxes, and reclaiming screens. It was a shorter work day, but this work week has had some long days. Kinda nice. Soon I'll move down and be able to pull the longer shifts more often. I was offered a Saturday shift, but I declined because I have packing to do. But yeah, once I live closer (which will be soon), I can start earlier, and stay longer because I won't be facing that long long commute.

It's nice how I'm trusted to close up shop.

The enchilada casserole cooked up nicely. We took a walk. Watched some Star Trek. A very good Friday night. Soon I shall be moved and things will change. I'll enjoy it for now though.

a Thursday I got a hold of

Bought more food today, though I got sandwich fixings and granola bars (I always throw a couple granola bars in with my lunch, because they make the perfect thing to eat mid morning and late afternoon, much better than taking the time for one big lunch time. Space out the munchings). Yesterday I got fixings to make this enchilada casserole, as per my friend Petra's recipe. Today I prepared it. Tomorrow it shall be cooked. Hopefully it will be good. It has beans and cheese. Hard to go wrong with beans and cheese.

So I spent the night making that, and cleaning the place up a bit. Carmen & Josh return, so I want the place looking nice. Not that I did much damage, it is just nice to have things in their place once again. Ya know? Dishes done, counters wiped down.

At work was a clean up day. Cleaned some squeegees, cleaned some flood bars, broke down the press, removed tape from screens, removed ink from screens, removed emulsion from screens. BUT it was also a prep day, because now there are more screens to apply emulsion to and some screens were burned (Andrew did the burning) and taped up. Have some more to reclaim tomorrow, and some to tape up, but also some things to print! Yay!

I'm barreling through A Discovery of Witches. There was a lull in the story, but then it picked up, and now it's at a very tense part. Ohhh! So good.

By myself on a Wednesday

Today I slept in, did some dishes, got some good, cleaned the place up, watered some plants.

Generally had a relaxing time.

Also talked to ma, pa, Celia, Brynne, and Dan. That was nice.

gone all day, but home tomorrow

Oh boy. Long day. Full of work. Full of major developments.

Gave Janet a couple checks to start the move in process. The first was the damage deposit/last months rent. The second was a part of first months rent. She said it was okay to give it to her in parts. Still waiting for the direct deposit of my paycheck to go through. It should come through today/tomorrow. We shall see.

Anyway. Yeah. Found a place to live, and have committed to living there! It is a pink house with white and blue accents. Very charming. Janet is nice, Amanda is nice. It's all so very nice.

I had another pickup to do for work. That was fun. Following that was a 11 hour work day. Though some parts I was mostly hanging back as the occasional assistant. I cleaned squeegees and floodbars. I helped register. I caught shirts. I sorted shirts. Then came a big run, and I caught that. The run took some time, so I was there till 10pm. Boss gave me tomorrow off, so I didn't mind the late day/late return. It was fun though, talking and sharing stories with the boss as we worked through and past the sun set. Starting to find my place here at work, I feel.

I can't wait to not have to drive so long. Ten minute commute, here I come!

A Discovery of Witches continues to be awesome.

Did I mention I have tomorrow off? I have errands to run. I'm also looking forward to relaxing, just because only having a couple hours in the evening isn't enough. Gotta get stuff done!

arms of steel (eventually)

Arrived at work at the very reasonable hour of noon. I like having a flexible job. I'm not so keen on the lack of cell service, because it makes communication really difficult when I need to communicate. I still haven't given Janet a check to start the moving in process. I never know quite when I am finishing the day, and I can't give her a heads up. But she is really understanding about it, and we both know I'll eventually give her money and move in.

Today I cleaned screens. Removed the tape, scraped the ink, removed the ink with chemicals, and then removed the emulsion with chemicals, and then removed the ghost image with MORE chemicals. AND AND AND I got the pressure washer to start using my own strength. Girl power! When it puttered into power, I felt so self confident. The Spencer in me is really coming out. Whee!

Left at 6:30ish. Went home. Watered plants. Now I'm waiting on some rice in the cooker. Hopefully it cooks. Carmen and Josh have a really confusing rice cooker. I'm going to make an enchilada casserole one of these nights. Got the recipe from Petra.

sunday shift spectacular

Awww oh god. I just got out of bed to put my chip dip away in the fridge, and walking hurt soooo much. I spent all day on my feet. A ten hour shift. Ohhh it's done my legs in! Thankfully, because I have a cool boss, I have a late start tomorrow. Get to sleep in a bit (just a bit, but a little goes a long way).

Another way my boss is cool: he got us pizza! Yay!

Got to work at 10:30. Left at 8:30. I removed the tape from a couple screens and scraped the ink off. Flipped some of the sweatshirts. We worked pretty efficiently today. Brock loaded the sweatshirts. I stacked them. Chris got the unprinted shirts onto the trolleys. And the day just flew by! Got the fronts, and the backs. Stuffed them into boxes as they came out of the heater. Well not stuffed! I folded and put them in the boxes. Just a few days they came out of the boxes, now they are back in and all spiffy like. Whooo! It moves so fast in the studio.

And now I'm so tired. Watching Happy Texas on Netflix Instant.

I also started listening to A Discovery of Witches. IT IS SO GOOD! Mom, read it! It's so so good. Well, I'm only ten chapters in. But they've been really good chapters.

Oh, also didn't get my check in for the apartment as it was too late when I got out of work. Tomorrow. I'll do that tomorrow.

It's my weekend...aaaaand it's gone

Woke up early because Carmen & Josh were heading out early. Had to move my car and all that.

Had a bunch of tea and some toast and eggs. Then I set out to run some errands! I got some frames at Aaron Brothers. Then went to Jiffy Lube and got my oil changed. They had a special half off deal going on, and they had hot dogs and drinks! Awesome! And they filled up my tires. The guy gave major compliments for how good of shape the car is in. Noted the clean filters and the levels of other things. All is well though. Yay good car maintenance. I probably won't be putting on a lot of miles on it, a week from now.

Because I'll be moving to Santa Cruz! Going to put in the moolah after work tomorrow (did I mention that I am pulling an extra shift on Sunday) and then I can get to moving in. Though that will happen next weekend. Ohhh so close! Soon I'll spend less time in a car, less time being tired in the evening, and just time to be! And be all like, living my life and stuff.

Anyway, as I was heading back, I got stuck in some sort of crazy downtown traffic. Ahhh San Francisco is not fun to drive in! I went to Trader Joe's and got some food stuffs, then went back. Started my laundry, ate some snacks, tidied up, and just generally mellowed around. That was nice. Now I have clean sheets, clean work shirts.

So yeah, I don't know how long I'll be working tomorrow. It seems like it will be a short day because it is fronts and backs, which pull faster than sleeves, but who knows? Still, I don't want to come all the way down for a short day.

can't wait to drive way less

Today was long and I am tired. I tried to make a noodle dinner thing but it was way salty. I'll make something really neat for Carmen and Josh when they come back (they are taking a little trip). Something I'll have prepared for.

I come home so late. Though probably won't be coming home that late anymore, as I should be giving Janet a check soon, and then I shall be moving in! Next weekend! Ahhh! I met my other new roommate, Amanda, after work, and she was really nice. She works six days a week, so I don't know if I'll be seeing her that much. Still, she is quite nice. It should be a good house to live in.

Quickie sum up of some names:

Chris: my boss. Cool guy. Obviously he is cool, he hired me.
Andrew: my coworker. Also cool. Teaches me oodles and is very helpful.
Janet: probably going to be roommate. Cool lady.
Joey: Janet's dog.
Amanda: probably going to be my other roommate.

Well I say roommate. I should write housemate. Because I am renting a room in a house with these two ladies. Not an apartment! A house! WHooo!! I just need to contact Janet and let her know when would be a good time to drop off some cash.

Work was a catching day. I worked with Brock, one of the occasional workers (like Julie). He printed. I caught and stacked and organized. 600 sweatshirts. Took all day. Whew! And that was just the sleeve. Still have to do the backs and fronts. People like their sweaters yo.

I may only have one week left of commuting. Can't wait to have time back. Some nights I just get back and am the walking dead just abouts.

My weekend is here! Except I agreed to work on Sunday. I think around the 4th will be a light day/no work. So yeah...hmmmn.

I just met you, and this is crazy, so here is my number, but don't call me at work because I won't get it

My thighs are painin' and I don't quite know why. Just exertion I guess? Today I was away from ink and all about stacking and sorting and taping. Pulled hundreds of sweaters out of boxes and stacked them and tried not to be buried under the stacks. I also added to my work notes. Have a lot more adding to do, but it is off to a good start. Added the reclaiming process, how to start the heater/clean the filters, and how to start the generator. Oh! Also added emulsion. Bit by bit. It has an index, and the pages are numbered, though it isn't in the best of order. I'm going for the more filled page route, instead of putting each thing on its own page. I like having fewer pages to go through, instead of many simpler pages.

Anyway. Also taped up screens. We got a high volume of stuff coming up. Exciting! I'm going to be catching the beejezuz out of some stuff. Might even work on Saturday. Need to get my oil changed this weekend.

I listened to Cabin Pressure. Most of the first two seasons, but that isn't saying much because there are only six episodes in a season. Ahh I need more fantastic Cabin Pressure stuff! So good.

Drove back. Ate dinner that was cooked by the lovely Carmen and Josh. Then Carmen went off to hang out with Alicia (not Alicia Silverstone though) and I hung out with Josh as he played Dark Souls.

I found out that if I forget to turn off my phone at work, the constant searching for a signal will completely drain it by day's end.

Again, or maybe for the first time because I'm not sure if I've put it in my blog: there is NO cell reception at work. I can't get any calls or texts. I get the messages when I leave work and enter a land with reception, but I do not get them during the day. Your awesome news will have to wait till I'm done working. It is also a given that I can't check my email/Facebook. So yeah, when I am at work, I am working. And listening to Cabin Pressure.

representing the biz

I called Janet and asked if I could rent the room in her house on Bixby. Well, she also rents the house, but yeah. She agreed, though I need to meet the other roommate first. Though I think we should get along. If Janet liked her, and I like Janet, then I should like this Amanda lady. I can generally find reasons to like/get along with people. But yeah, I'll meet them, then fork over a check, then I can get to moving in. It probably won't be this weekend, but next one seems likely. Ohhhh I almost have a place to live! How exciting. And paychecks. I'll be getting those. I think I'm setting up direct deposit, so no fuss no muss, just cash! Wheee! Oh wait, I'll have bills to pay. And a bed to buy. Ahhh grownup stuff.

Anyway, today work had a lateish start because I was an official errand runner. I picked up some shirts on San Jose. I was all professional and the sheets said "pick up by Trillian" even! Ahhh! I love that kind of stuff. Felt so legit. And I got paid for doing the pick up, which is pretty neat. Today I caught and cleaned and wore gloves so that my hands stayed clean. Something I'm doing much more of. Yay gloves! Oh, and I have my own personal respirator. It was a pretty good day.

I swung by Safeway and got a soda pop and some doughnuts, because I had a craving. Well, actually my craving was for ice creme but I couldn't find any ice cream that wasn't a huge serving. So I bought doughnuts.

Driving from work into Santa Cruz and going from Ocean Street to 17 seems to take less time than winding along Branciforte and merging onto 17 somewhere on the woods. It seems to, or maybe just the winding feels like it takes longer because it is going at a slow speed.

Back in San Francisco, we chilled out and watched this insect thing. It was pretty neat. Wow, tomorrow is Thursday? This week went by fast!

Bixby

Oooh I'm sore. Building up that muscle!

I got to work at around 10:30. I've taken a break from The Prague Cemetery to relisten to That Mitchell and Webb Sound. Hilarious stuff.

Today was a printing day. And a bit of cleaning day. I mostly caught. Ran a test shirt! But yeah, lots of catching while Andrew throws the shirts on the pallets. I also taped up screens and cleaned the ink off some other screens. Time flies!

After work I checked out the most darling house! It was a bit shabby in places but not like, bad, just old? The room was nice with tons of light. Lots of space. Good location. Janet, one of two roommates (the other being Amanda, who I didn't meet) was really nice, as was her dog Joey. It was colorful and artsy and just...swell. I think I fell in love with it a little bit.

I have a late start at work tomorrow because I'm running a pickup errand in San Jose.

There was a sort of gig in Oakland, but I arrived right as Josh was leaving for it, and I'm well tuckered out, so it is just me in the house tonight.

Spencer Power!

Baaahhhh I am tired! I used mostly arms today. Arms to scrub the ink off screens. Arms to hold the pressure washer to reclaim screens. Arms to yank at the pull cord on that little generator thingy for the pressure washer (or not a generator but the pressure washer itself). Lots of arm use. I feel my muscles growing! I listened to copious amounts of That Mitchell and Webb look and the seven hours passed by quite quickly. First I cleaned. Then I reclaimed. Then I burned and washed out. Amazing how long tasks can take, but how not long they seem to take when you have good stuff to listen to. I had to ask Andrew to start the pressure washer the first few times, but I managed to get it going on my own later in the day. I was proud about that. I can't remember the last time I successfully pull started something. My dad will be so proud!

I need to add the reclaiming screens steps to my printing notebook. I was so tired when I got home, I just had enough energy to make a quick trip to Trader Joe's (it's on the way back), make a mini pizza, and watch two episodes of Star Trek with Carmen & Josh, and roll about on the floor a bit. I also had a quick lookiloo at another apartment. If Scottie & Adam, nor Janet (whose house I'm checking out tomorrow), want me, I'll give them another call and pursue that place a bit more.

Busy day! But I love it. I just want to get situated in Santa Cruz so I can have more time in the evenings/mornings. Time. It is an important thing to have.

Adam vs Annie

Drove down to Santa Cruz to look at apartments. I don't really like doing extra drives, but it was good to look at apartments when I'm not fresh out of work. Also good to roam the area a bit. One thing I've noticed is everywhere in Santa Cruz seems to take 5 minutes. And I'm getting a hang of certain streets, like Ocean, without having spent much time driving there. I think it is just the right size for me.

I'm looking at two more apartments, one on Monday and one on Tuesday (well rooms in houses, not apartments) but I think by then I'll have made my choice.

The first place I went to was Scotty and Adam, and their dog Pumpkin's place. It was nicely sized with plenty of common shared space and a nicely sized bedroom. I'd have my own bathroom as well, which is swell. It had a good atmosphere, was in a nice location that was near to a lot of places. I only met Adam, but he was really nice and we seemed to get on well, and we had common interests. And the dog Pumpkin was totally sweet. I like that place and when the day was done, I called Adam to say that if they were willing, I was willing, but that I had a couple more places to look at, but that I generally wouldn't mind being their roommate.


There was a second place I was supposed to look at, but the person never called me back/responded to my texts. I cruised by the house and it looked a bit sketchy/run down...errr. I think I'm better off looking at more places.


The third was place was an itty bitty bungalow. Annie was nice, but the place was a bit small. I think I could make it work, but I think spending the extra amount for a bigger/more central place would be better in the long run. We did have a nice chat, so in the end I may have made a friend.


I got a chicken burger at a restaurant and chilled and drove around while killing time in the day. The drive back always feels much longer than the drive down.


Talked to mom, which was nice.


Early in the day, I bought some more Earl Gray because I drank it all. Also got some frozen yogurt and toppings. Yum! Pretty good start to the day.


Another work week starts. Yay! Soon I'll move, soon I'll get evenings back, soon I'll be getting paychecks, which will be awesome (they will come bimonthly, not every Friday which is as I originally thought).

Irving and Thirty Five

I didn't really get up to much. Well, I contacted some people about apartments. Tomorrow I am going to drive down to Santa Cruz to meet someone about a place, it is one I'm really interested in. Carmen also gave me the great idea to call the people I'm meeting on Monday and Tuesday to see if they have any time on Sunday to meet. I could meet them any time and spend the rest of the day reading on the beach, or something similar.

Today I ate left over chili and watched stuff and got some vegetables and Sheng Kee baked goods. I also bought a little notebook and spent a few hours writing up my work tasks. Writing comprehensive notes about my job will help me remember the things that I have to do. I'm no where near done, and I'll add to it as time goes on. It is a good thing to have, and it helps affirm all that I know and have learned in such a short time. Willing note taking? Ahk! What have I become?

I introduced Carmen & Josh to Doctor Horrible. They seemed to like it, despite the sad ending.

We walked down to 35th after dinner, and chatted about dreams and things.

It was a good day. Things are really good.

I am here, and I like it

Brave! Carmen, Josh, and I went to see Brave and it was super cute and heart warming and the animation was lovely. Nice to see a movie about the mother/daughter bond. And it was funny, and I was grinning throughout. Maybe not as deep as Pixar's other movies, but still quality.

They went somewhere for dinner. I got a crepe. Yummy crepe.

Work was shirts and cleaning. I caught the first side, because the glue was fresh and hard to pull off the pallets, and pulled the front side when the pallets had been broken in a bit. I just don't have the tug and snap down, aka the removal process, for when the glue hasn't been softened by lint. I'll get it though! I want to become super good at what I do. I think I'll spend some time this weekend writing down all the procedures of different things I've learned, just so I have notes, because when I have notes I'll remember this and that. Such as in which instances I tape on the squeegee side of the screen, and how far down to spread the glue on the pallets. Little things. It is important to get down the procedure for the things I only do on occasion, though as it has just been a week and a few days, I'm sure over time I'll get it all down. I've gotten a lot! Still, I want to be good at what I do because I enjoy doing it, and enjoy it even more when I get it right. Confidence! I enjoy seeing my own improvement, I like feeling a part of something, I like when it all works together, I like being trusted to do things on my own. This is where I want to be, and dammit I'm going to work hard!

Didn't look at any apartments after work, but I do have some I'm checking out on Monday. I want to move somewhere where I'll be a part of a household, not just somebody that wants to rent some space.

It's the weekend! I don't think I have many errands to run. Going to buy some food, have somethings to mail...yeah! Oh I think I'll go to Ichiban Kan and look at lunchboxes, and maybe get a notebook in which to make "Trillian's Guide to Printmaking, As Written For Trillian's Use".

from King to Fforde

Ohhh I think I got sick for a bit there. Just got really congested and a cough and stuff. Had a very restless night sleep as well. Bleh. The stress of apartment hunting I guess?

Got up. Had my bagel and smeared tons of creme cheese on it. Finish 11/22/63. I really liked it, and was glad it didn't go all Gunslinger Series Deus ex Machina in the end, like Hearts in Atlantis did. Now I'm listening to The Last Dragonslayer. Ahh young adult novels, they go through so fast.

Started at 10:30 and worked straight through to 6. Well not straight through. I of course took breaks. Printed the sleeves and backs on shirts. Well, Andrew loaded up the shirt backs, I just did the sleeves. Did lots of cleaning. My sleeve time was down to 11 seconds, for loading/unloading, which is good. I want to become super uber at what I do.

And I've been hired on officially! Filling out the forms and all that. Probationary time is over, and after just a week. GO TRILLIAN!

I looked at one apartment after work, but the room was small. I kind of want to be part of a household, not just renting a wee room.

Got back before 8. Ate leftover chili for dinner. Watched some Star Trek. Soon I'll tuck into bed, as I'm still not 100% better.

woop there goes my energy

I'm tired.

The apartment was nabbed before I could look at it. Sucks. Boo.

I cut six seconds off my time for getting shirts on/off the pallets. Go me! Today was a shirt printing day. Lots of shirts were printed.

I applied to another stack of apartments, looking at two tomorrow. I wish I knew more about what budget I should be looking at, apartment cost wise. 650? 500? I just don't know. I just need to make sure it is month to month, in case I realize I'm living too close to what I make.

Real life. BLehhh.

Driving just takes up so much time. I get home at 8pm, and then there isn't much time to fart around and chill. I hope to get settled real soon. Yup yup.

I yam what I yam

Work was stressful, though I won't go into detail because this is a business and I don't want to publish the inside goings on, ya know? And it wasn't a BAD day, just a busy one with lots of stuff going on. I learned this system for burning and washing out and cleaning the ink from screens. I also taped up a bunch of screens. It was a prep day. I bet the rest of the week will be filled with printing.

There are two dogs on the studio property: Snoopy and Maxie (Maxy?). Both are very sweet.

I'm almost done with 11/22/63. If it ends the way I think it is going to end, I think I'll be pissed.

Filled up my tank, though I had probably another trip left in it. I just like having a full tank, ya know?

Made a tomatoey chili for dinner, and I doubled the recipe so we have tons of leftovers. Yay! Also made yams to smother the chili with. Whatever you do, don't tell Mom that I ate a yam.

It was a warm dinner. Maybe a bit bland. My cooking often ends up bland. Don't know why.

I'm so tired. Goodnight.

chillin' in my Cadillac (shirt that is)

Blogger is doing this weird thing where it tries to log me in under my Google name, despite my account not being under Google, so it's all "do you want to make a blogger". Dangit, I've been doing this for almost five years! Let me do what I want!

Anyway. I thought today was going to be long and stressful, but it wasn't. Hurray!

I got up at 7:30am. Showered and walked down to the market to get chili makings (going to make a big pot of chili, though under a Carmen recipe, because that is tried and true and they don't have a crockpot so I can't make my chili recipe). I got a red bean paste filled bun on the way back. Drank some tea, then went to work.

I wore one of my new cheap Hanes shirts, and boy was it dirty by the days end. I'm glad I got work shirts. My first chunk of work was spent cleaning squeegees, the work stations, flood bars, spatulas, and other things. Lots of cleaning and lots of time at the sink. I wore a respirator because of the prolonged exposure to the cleaning solvents, so that was fun. I got some serious splash back from the sink, hence the dirty shirt. I'll heat set it next time we turn the heater on, so that the ink won't smear in the wash. I learned how to apply pallet peel to the printing pallets. And learned the shop method for taping screens. I listened to my audio book (still on 11/22/63, though it is reaching its climax). I learned how to do heat transfers on hats. And that was pretty much it. A short work day.

I decided to not pursue the first apartment, because the rent with utilities would take up way too much of my foreseeable income, and as I don't have what appears to be an exact specific set income, I need to go as cheap as possible for rent. The second apartment ended up being occupied. So I went home! Got back at 7pm. Chilled out. Put on one of my new company branded shirts (Chris gave me a couple! Now I can represent!). Tasty ravioli was dinner.

I look at another apartment on Wednesday. Hopefully.

Tomorrow I make chili. Oh wait, I said that. But yeah. I agreed to make a meal a week, and I think I'm a couple behind, so I'm making a big one with many available servings.

You can tell I like my job, because when the alarm clock goes off, I don't think "oh I wish I had two more hours to sleep". And when I see that it is 10:30pm, I think, "oh, time to put my pajamas on!".

I'M A MATURE ADULT! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?

driving about, getting needed things

Oh sweet. I found the Santa Cruz specific Craigslist, and there were tons of apartments. I applied to a few, and two of them got back to me! Both are available ASAP, which works really well for me. I meet with at least one of them tomorrow after work. Here is hoping that goes well! I might be moved out in a weeks time. Oh how fast things move! A week ago I was anxiously awaiting hearing back about whether or not I got the job I applied for. Ha! Amazing.

Anyway. I slept in, but only till 10. Odd how that is "sleeping in" in San Francisco.

Had some juice that Carmen and Josh blended, then went and ran some errands in Daly City. Went to Target and got some work shirts (generic white Hanes six pack, shirts I can get mucky with ink and not care too much about). And some bras, because I always need those. Especially of the work variety. And I got some shampoo & conditioner, because I am running low. Then I went to Trader Joe's and got a bunch of food. Sandwich fixings, sweets, and granola bars mostly. OH DANG, I FORGOT TO GET DEHYDRATED MANGO! Boo. Oh well. Next time.

Called Dad. Wished him Happy Father's Day. Got back to the apartment. Played Kinect with Carmen and Josh. Later on we walked down to Irving and got waffles. Yum. Then we watched Star Trek. Now it is 10:30, and I am in bed, another exciting week starts! A very exciting week, filled with work and possibly moving out and into a new apartment. In Santa Cruz. Where I shall begin my awesome life.

Damn, I'll have to get a bed. Well, I'll get a futon to start. Something I can realistically move in my car. I need to see the type of space I might potentially be moving into anyway.